Captain America: The Winter Soldier -- AKA I'm Still Watching The Marvel Movies In The Wrong Order

** I feel ridiculous even having to say this, but this obviously is going to contain some spoilers.  If you haven't seen the movie yet and don't want to know even the tiniest of spoilers, don't read this!  You've been warned.  I don't want to hear any complaining. Are we clear?  Good.**

I'm still watching the Marvel movies, and I'm still hopelessly out of order.  I haven't seen the first Captain America yet, but I have seen The Avengers so at least I know that much going in to this movie. (Not for lack of trying -- I've got a request in for the first movie at the library, but apparently everyone else wanted to watch it as well so I'm still waiting.)

My friend, bless her, tried to catch me up on the entire first movie before we saw this one.  Luckily the good folks behind the movie also realized that there were probably going to be a bunch of clueless fools like me watching, so they included some backstory.

First of all, apparently our theater has Dolby Make-You-Vibrate-In-Your-Damn-Seat-From-The-Bass surround sound.  Holy shit!  I felt like I was in the explosions, and that was just in the previews.  Not a spoiler or relevant, I realize.  On to the movie!

Captain America has learned some new ass-kicking skills, folks!  He is much more badass than in The Avengers.  That being said, Cap, when the bad guy on the boat basically double-dog dares you to put away your shield, you do not do it!  And you definitely should not be taking off your mask and throwing it to the side!  I felt like I morphed into Captain America's mother.  "What do you think you are doing?  Put your mask back on right now, young man!"

And Rumlow?  This mother f#*ker drove me nuts the entire movie.  Die already, would you!  He got his ass kicked so many times he should have been in a damn hospital somewhere, not back in the next fight.  Falcon left him -- I'm not going to spoil that much -- but he should be dead.  DEAD!!!  

I'm not sure if they meant the identity of The Winter Soldier to be a Big Reveal.  They dropped a lot of hints in the movie ahead of time.  Even I, hopelessly behind things, figured it out right away.

I really enjoyed the movie.  It was not just about the fighting and action sequences -- which were great, don't get me wrong -- but also the plot about information being power, and how that power is used by those who possess it.

I really was worried for a minute that Captain America was going to die.  It would be my luck to get sucked into a movie universe only to watch one of the main characters get killed in one of the first movies I see.  I had to keep reminding myself that there was another Avengers movie coming soon, so he wasn't going to die.  I wonder if The Falcon will get to come back for that?

I was surprised that Hawk Eye didn't show up in this one.  I kind of thought he and Black Widow had a history, maybe worked together outside of The Avengers.  (I have not read the comics, but it really felt they they had history together that would make it plausible.)

I think maybe I need some sort of a timeline for the Marvel universe movies.  Now that I have seen The Avengers and know that all of these guys can work together when they want, it causes me some issues. Take this movie, for instance.  It's all about information and who has it, S.H.I.E.L.D. is having some problems, and the bad guy has this super-strong metal arm.  How the hell does Tony Stark not know this shit is going down and get involved?  It seems hard to believe he didn't notice this little blip on his radar.  Why the hell didn't anyone call him for help?  Was he busy doing whatever happens in Iron Man 3? (I haven't seen it yet -- don't spoil it!)  

Also, stay after the credits roll, folks!  There is an extra little bit at the end.  And what do they show?  Hydra has  Loki's tesseract-staff thing from The Dark World.  OMG is Loki coming back?  If you have been reading, then you know I got sucked into all of these movies because of Loki.

This next thing is not remotely a spoiler, but something that has been pestering me since I watched the Avengers.  Captain America's hair really bothered me in that movie.  The blond looked bizarre to me.  Maybe it is because I had seen Chris Evans in another movie first with dark hair.  Some people are bothered by action or special effects that don't look great and want to nitpick them apart, some people get annoyed by little things like a California license plate in the movie and it is supposed to be Colorado. I get bothered by hair color that does not look right.  It doesn't always happen -- hell, I thought Orlando Bloom was really blond all through the Lord of the Rings trilogy-- but when it does it just bugs me for the entire movie.   I honestly do not know why, but Captain America's hair drove me nuts in the Avengers.  Scarlett Johansson as a red-head worked.  I went into this movie fully expecting Captain America's hair to irk me, but it didn't.  This time it worked.  Maybe less obviously blond?  I really don't know.  I'm assuming he must be blond in the comics.  (**Edit:  I'm right.  My friend did the research and Captain America is blond in the comics.**) 

In short: go see the movie.  It was really good, and very nicely left a lot of loose ends for further development.

**I never said these were going to be super-important spoilers, filled with deep thoughts.**

In Which I Continue to Watch the Marvel Movies In The Wrong Order

In case you are just joining us, I watched Thor for the first time last week.  I kind of latched onto Loki as my favorite character (don't know what that says about me).  I finished and had to watch The Dark World immediately afterward.  I was not happy with Loki falling off of Asgard at the end of the first movie.

I did not find out until after the fact that I needed to watch The Avengers as well.  I had been sucked into the whole Marvel Universe thanks to Loki.  I don't know that much about superheros -- don't watch most of the movies, haven't read the comics.  It's a whole new world to me.

Last night I decided to watch The Avengers -- or Part II of the Loki trilogy, as I considered it.  Joss Whedon is involved with this?  Awesome!  I loved Buffy the Vampire Slayer.  I knew who Thor and Loki were, obviously, so I wasn't going in completely clueless.  Oh look!  Iron Man is in this, too.  I've actually seen the first Iron Man movie because Robert Downey Jr. was in it.   Captain America! Holy cow, I remember watching a cartoon version of Captain America when I was little.  I remember the theme song and everything!

In re-runs, people.  I was not around in 1966.

The Hulk?  Totally know who he is as well!  This is going so much better than I had hoped.  I watched that on television too, when it was Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno.  

No clue on the rest of them.  Never heard of anyone named Hawkeye or Black Widow.  I have only heard of S.H.I.E.L.D. because of the commercials for the television series.

This should be good!  At least I wasn't completely clueless.

I realized immediately that I was going to have to go back now and watch Captain America starring Chris Evans.  Add that to my list of movies to catch up on.  Apparently he already knows what the Tesseract is, and he was a popsicle for many years.  I remember none of that from watching the cartoon series.

Ah, Loki.  You are still chockablock with issues: Daddy problems, Brother problems, power hungry, jealous, vindictive, hurt.  I love the complexity, your warped brain and world outlook.  You are so damaged. That being said, I have a problem with your plan right from the get-go.  Loki, my lamb, what are you doing cutting such a bad deal with these creepy-ass alien dudes?  I get that they gave you a cool scepter, and knowledge of the Tesseract.  However, for someone so smart and cunning who usually looks out for himself, I think your plan is a bit short-sighted.  You want to take over the Earth and be King, and piss off your brother, I get that.  I understand that you may need an army to take over the Earth, but you are going to give them the Tesseract in exchange?  Really?  That's the part I have a problem with.  You should really consider reneging on that part of the deal.  You might be King of the Earth, but you will still be their bitch when they have unlimited power.  Keep that Tesseract for yourself, honey.  I'm sure you can come up with a way to use it to take over the Earth without these other guys.

I absolutely loved this movie!  I watched it again directly after finishing, just to catch bits I missed the first time -- like Captain America giving Fury the $10.  I love that Loki just kind of kicked back and watched Thor and Iron Man beat the stuffing out of each other in the woods.  I probably would have been much more upset about Agent Coulson if I hadn't already watched The Dark World and spoiled that part for myself.  I feel like I am missing a lot of back-story with Hawkeye and the Black Widow.  

The writing was great as well.  There were some terrific lines in the movie.  A few of my favorites:

-- Hawkeye: "Doors open from both sides."  So deadpan, like everyone should have figured that out already.

--Stark: "Loki, he's a full-tilt diva." 

--Loki: "I don't threaten...You are but words" when talking to the creepy alien leader.  So perfect.

--Fury: "I recognize the Council has made a decision, but given that it's a stupid ass decision I've elected to ignore it."  Rock on, man!

I was left with one big question after watching the movie, and it is probably due to my lack of familiarity with the Marvel Universe:  Who the hell is The Council?  I get that Fury answers to them, but who are they?  Are they supposed to be world leaders?  

I have so many more movies I have to watch now.